Motorola Droid X

Looks like Motorola's Verizon DROID X2 isn't the powerhouse update we were hoping for. An anonymous tipster from SCK Kiosks - a Radio Shack subsidiary - sent our sibling site Android Community a screenshot suggesting that rather than a wholesale update, the Verizon DROID X2 was in fact a new SKU of the original DROID X with a 2GB memory card pre-installed rather than a 16GB card.

When the iPhone 4 first debuted on AT&T users experienced the famous “death grip” as their reception plummeted after holding the phone in a certain way. Consumer Reports has tested the new Verizon version of the iPhone and the reception problem seems to have followed the device to its new network. While complaints rained down on AT&T and Apple when the iPhone launched, complaints have been far fewer for Verizon’s iPhone.

Motorola's DROID X update - taking the Android smartphone to 2.2 Froyo - has only been in the wild for a few hours, but over at Android Community they've already put it through its paces. Obviously Froyo brings plenty of neat features and a generally tightened-up mobile experience, but we're more interested in what extra speed it squeezes out of the DROID X's 1GHz processor. Happily, according to Quadrant benchmarking, it's quite an impressive leap.

Today was a busy day in the news business, so hopefully you managed to keep up. With that being said, welcome to The Daily Slash, the last little bit before we all wind down. As usual, we'll capture one story that's interesting enough to make the cut, as well as wrap up the news from around the R3 Media Network. So let's get right into it.

It looks like Motorola and Verizon were able to stick to their guns on this one, and have gone through the paces to provide the update to Android 2.2, better known as Froyo, for the Motorola Droid X before the end of the third quarter. The update is scheduled to start rolling out to owners of the Droid X beginning tomorrow, and as most Over the Air updates go, this one will also be a staggered roll out. However, Verizon is quick to point out that you don't necessarily have to wait.

It's been over nine months since we reviewed Motorola's first DROID smartphone, the Verizon handset that arguably reversed the company's fall from grace and set their foundations as a key player in the Android segment. Now, in an increasingly competitive smartphone market, Motorola have returned to their pivotal handset for a much-anticipated makeover, the Motorola DROID 2. Question is, have they done enough to maintain their pace? Check out the full SlashGear review after the cut.

It looks like Apple intend to continue using their elaborate signal testing equipment to test more and more rival smartphones and highlight their respective antenna performance, with the latest device to be highlighted being the Motorola DROID X. According to Apple, with a strong grip around its antenna – behind the lower rear panel near the base of the handset – Verizon’s new Android smartphone dropped from three bars to zero.

It's only just been on sale for a week - and has spent the past few days out of stock - but already the Motorola DROID X has been rooted. The handiwork of Droid X Forums, the root looks to be a relatively straightforward twelve-step process; the bootloader is still locked down, however, and Motorola certainly hasn't made it easy to install third-party ROMs.

ROM-fondlers beware; Motorola aren't just frowning on unofficial firmware being loaded on devices like the DROID X, DROID 2 and future Android smartphones, they're actively making sure the end result is a bricked handset. According to MyDroidWorld, attempts to install alternative ROMs, kernels or bootloaders will trip the Motorola eFuse, bricking the phone in the process; to return the smartphone to a functional state will require attention from Motorola themselves, and owners testing quite how flexible their warranty policies are.

We've been waiting for SanDisk's capacious 32GB microSDHD card for some time, and the company has decided to launch it alongside the Motorola DROID X. While the new Verizon smartphone will come with an 8GB microSD preloaded, the 32GB card will be available to buyers at a reduced price of $99.99; everyone else will be expected to shell out $149.99.